Wildfire • D.M

Forty-four

"But that still doesn't change how much it hurts..."

It had been almost a week since she'd spoken those words to draco. She'd been avoiding him ever since.
Although the cuts had scabbed under the bandages, the pain never subsided.
And no, she wasn't talking about that pain you'd feel when you've just been punched in the face by hermione granger but the kind of pain that you feel when you just feel that emptiness inside . That's how alora felt watching students leave the interrogation room in tears, shattered and broken from all the torture.

She tried to stay strong, just like many of the others. Hogwarts' fight against umbridge wasn't over after all. No matter how much hurt she felt inside, she never allowed anyone to see the cracks forming beneath her skin.

But if she meant that then... why'd she end up here?

There she stood. In front of the large mahogany door as she'd done many times before, although this time, she had no idea how or why she ended up there.

She'd initially been on her way back to the gryffindor tower but instead was staring at the front of the abandoned hospital wing door, her hand reaching for the doorknob. Her feet had somehow diverged from the original path and subconsciously carried her to that exact spot.

But why?

Her fingertips grazed the cold metal and then fell to her side formlessly. 'I should rush back to the gryffindor common room before he could know I'd  been there in the first place.' She thought while turning on her heels briskly.

Did she really miss draco that badly?

She wanted nothing more that to run to him and pretend that everything was ok when it wasn't... but she could never bring herself to in the end.

That same thought followed her two days later while she was walking to the greenhouse for herbology class. That was until the loud bang of a pot plant being smashed against the ground was heard, making her abruptly stop in her tracks. She was a few minutes early and hadn't expected anyone else had arrived yet. Picking up her pace, she ran towards the direction of the commotion and was shocked to see draco standing over Cassius Warrington, holding him by a fistful of his collar. A sharp gasp escaped her lips as her eyes widened.

"Don't talk about her that way ever again!" She heard draco grunt aggressively. The blood in his veins pulsed with anger as he stared down the fellow slytherin with daggers. Despite being his senior, Warrington crumbled to his knees as Draco towered over him.

It was evident in his cold gaze, he wasn't going to hold back. Draco swung back his arm to go for a  blow to Warrington's face however, alora ran up and grabbed onto his arm before he could make the impact. Suddenly, she immediately looked down in shock. She felt a warm liquid against her fingertips and realised his sleeve had been torn with a large gash, dark red blood seeping out. He must've gotten cut when the pot plant fell down from the shelf.